On Monday, September 23, 1957, the Little Rock Nine entered Central High School for a few hours.

The previous Friday, Federal District Judge Ronald Davies ruled that Governor Faubus had used the National Guard to keep the Little Rock Nine out of the school.  At this point, the Governor withdrew the troops.  The duty of maintaining any order on the site and ensuring the safety of the students now fell solely on the Little Rock Police Department.

To minimize interactions with aggressive protestors who were outside of the school, the Nine were escorted into the side of the school.  Word quickly spread that they had made it into the building.  This caused the 1,000 or more people out front to become more hostile.

Threats were called into the building. Some parents of white children called wanting to get their students out of the building.  Some students snuck out of the building, while at the same time some of the crowd were trying to sneak in.  The situation was tense and getting more so by the minute.

Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann and police leadership were concerned about the ability of the City to protect the Nine and maintain order.  The Fire Department refused to use water from a firehose to disperse the crowd.

For the safety of the Little Rock Nine the students were removed from the building after having been in it only a few hours.